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The sun's position shifted, from one horizon to the other; it disappeared with its light, bringing the end of day and the coming of night. The fluttering winds howled like the dying cries of prey caught by their predators, coupled with the temperature drop; together, they welcomed the night's arrival with a foreboding feeling.
The day went by without any retaliation from the Holy Knight Empire, but it was hard to say the same now that they had the cover of the night.
On the southern banks of Violent Tributary, Stormwind Lake, and the Sleeping River, the empire's soldiers lined up in groups of 1,000-man battalions and 4,000-man brigades.
Each group had a large wooden raft fully occupied with straw dummies, making the empire's army seem twice as big in the night.
Without speaking a single word, Emperor Renardier signaled the army to advance with his hand gesture.
The holy soldiers immediately pushed the wooden rafts into the body of water, with only four to eight men hopping on to steer them forward, against the turbulent waves of the Violent Tributary and Stormwind Lake. In comparison, the wooden rafts in the Sleeping River only required two men at most.
Although the Holy Knight Empire had the cover of the night, they couldn't completely avoid detection. The unnatural slushing of water in the peaceful Sleeping River alerted the perceptive night sentries of Fort Ironhaven.
"What's that weird sound coming from the river?"
"Let me take a look."
Amidst the doubts and curiosity, an Early-stage High Witch fired a flame arrow over the Sleeping River, briefly illuminating the body of water in its path and revealing the numerous shadows on the surface.
The night sentries' expressions changed instantly.
"Enemy attack!"
Shortly after the sentries sounded the alarm, the entirety of Fort Ironhaven woke up with great shock as battle witches jumped out of bed and rushed to their stations.
At the same time, Mesulina sent the news to Fort Whitebridge and Fort Dragontail, waking everyone there as well. Only one-quarter of their forces had been awake at the time as they took turns rotating their shifts overnight.
However, news of the empire's movements shocked them all awake. Even if they went back to rest then and there, they wouldn't be able to sleep.
Vaan calmly stood on the wall of Fort Whitebridge and shook his head with a bit of disappointment. He had seen everything beforehand but chose to watch how the witches would deal with the problem on their own.
And as he has witnessed, they weren't off to a very good start.
"The empire has launched a full-scale attack! What are your orders, my Lord? How should we defend?"
"Calm down, Artemis. You are a lord. If you can't ascertain the truth of the empire's intentions and panic just like that, you will spread the same feelings and misinformation to your troops. The empire is not launching a full-scale attack. Have everyone on standby."
Vaan's calm and confident voice quickly calmed Artemis down before she glanced over the wall and observed the empire's movements.
After fire spells were used to illuminate the darkness, Artemis realized the empire was only using dummies.
Even if they sent out a barrage of spells to burn down the wooden rafts right away, they wouldn't guarantee any kills. At such a distance, the empire's raft rowers would just jump into the water and swim back to shore.
But even if they waited until the enemy reached their shore, they would still kill only a few hundred soldiers.
Nevertheless, after Vaan's orders were passed down, the battle witches didn't attack. Instead, they waited and waited; then, they kept waiting.
…
Meanwhile, the lack of response from the Kingdom of Black Rose confused the Holy Knight Empire's side. According to their plan, the witches would have already fired their spells on their rafts.
"Your Imperial Majesty, our rafts safely made it to the other side. Besides sending a few fire and light spells out for vision, the enemy has not attacked. I think the enemy saw through our ploy," a lord mentioned.
"Not exactly," Emperor Renardier thought otherwise as he saw the walls of Fort Whitebridge lit up with light.
"We may have failed to exhaust their mana, but we have succeeded in rousing them awake. If we keep harassing them day and night from here onward, forcing them to stay awake, they won't have the energy to fight once we decide to launch our full-scale attack."
"That's a great plan, Your Imperial Majesty. We can keep the enemy on their toes while buying time until our new war supplies arrive," the lord commented.
"However, there's no point if we aren't letting our army rest either. From tomorrow onward, we only need a few soldiers to continue the operation. Also, the straw dummies won't work again. We need to switch it up if we want to keep them alert each time."
"Right."
…
Shortly after the empire sent a signal into the sky, the raft rowers understood the order to return as they dived into the water and swam back.
Artemis watched the empire's people leave with a disgruntled look.
"We're going to let them leave just like that, my Lord? And what should we do about their rafts?" Artemis asked.
"Wasting our energy and time on hunting small fishes won't put a dent in the empire's large army. It's only meaningful if we catch a whole school," Vaan casually replied before chuckling. "Since the empire graciously gifted us firewood, why should we burn them now when we can use them later?"
"More importantly, I hope you and the others learned much from tonight's activity. There are advantages and disadvantages to defending. Staying in top condition is especially crucial. Don't fall for the empire's empty threats again," Vaan advised.
"Yes, my Lord," Artemis lowered her head.
…
The night soon passed uneventfully.
In the morning, Vaan held a meeting with the three border lords and participating matriarchs, explaining the empire's plan.
On the other hand, the empire sent their soldiers to chop more logs and build more rafts for their night operations. Another group worked on siege weapons with the wizards.
At the same time, the empire also deployed its scout fleet to check on the kingdom's troop count, as the empire couldn't check during the night.
They were disappointed to find the witch count unchanged.
…
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